"Glendora" is a
popular
Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group.
Popular may also refer to:
In sociology
* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
* Popular music
* Popular science
* Populace, the total ...
song written by Ray Stanley and published in 1956, originally performed by Jack Lewis with Zippy Simms Orchestra
Background
The song deals with a man's unusual attraction to a department store mannequin, and his disillusionment when, at the end of the song, he happens to see it disassembled during the store's renovation.
It was recorded on May 8, 1956 by
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...
. It was released by
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
in the United States (catalog number 20-6554 on 78rpm, 47-6554 on 45rpm) and by RCA in France (catalog number 45-326); it was released in the United Kingdom by
HMV
Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom.
The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
(catalog number POP-240).
The flip side of the US and UK releases is "
More
More or Mores may refer to:
Computing
* MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS
* more (command), a shell command
* MORE protocol, a routing protocol
* Missouri Research and Education Network
Music Albums
* ''More!'' (album), by Booka S ...
." The French release's flip side is "
Mandolins in the Moonlight "Mandolins in the Moonlight" is a popular song, written by George David Weiss and Aaron Schroeder.
Perry Como recording
It was recorded by Perry Como on September 16, 1958, and released by RCA Victor Records as a 45 rpm single, catalog numbe ...
." The song reached number eight on the US chart and number 18 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
"Glendora" was re-released by RCA Victor as a single in the "Gold Standard" series (catalog numbers 420-0817 and 447-0817), backed with "More." It has been included on albums ''Como-Tion'' (an
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. album released in
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
) and ''Love Makes the World Go 'Round'' (an LP released in
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
).
Cover versions
*The song was later recorded by Billy Young in 1963,
*The
Downliners Sect
Downliners Sect are an English R&B and blues-based rock band, formed in the 1960s beat boom era. Stylistically, they were similar to blues-based bands such as The Yardbirds, The Pretty Things and the Rolling Stones, playing basic R&B on their ...
in 1966
*The
Slickee Boys
The Slickee Boys were a Washington, D.C. area punk-psychedelic-garage rock band whose most-remembered lineup consisted of guitarist Marshall Keith, guitarist Kim Kane, singer Mark Noone and drummer Dan Palenski. The group was named after a GI sl ...
in 1979.
*In Finland the song has been recorded by
Olavi Virta
Olavi Virta (originally to 1926 Oskari Olavi Ilmén) (27 February 1915 in Sysmä, Grand Duchy of Finland – 14 July 1972 in Pispala, Tampere, Finland) was a Finnish singer, acclaimed during his time as the "King" of Finnish tango. Between 1939 a ...
("Glendora"),
Brita Koivunen
Brita Koivunen (married name: Brita Koivunen-Einiö; 31 August 1931, Helsinki – 12 April 2014, Helsinki) was a Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the ...
("Ikkunaprinssi"),
Rauli Badding Somerjoki
Rauli Somerjoki (born Rauli Aarre Tapani Somerjoki; 30 August 1947-14 January 1987), known professionally as "Badding", was a Finnish rock singer born in the town of Somero into a family of five children. His records were published on such lab ...
("Ikkunaprinsessa") and
Ville Valo & Agents
Ville Hermanni Valo (; born 22 November 1976) is a Finnish singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the gothic rock band HIM.
Born and raised in Helsinki to a Hungarian mother and Finnish father, Valo began hi ...
("Ikkunaprinsessa, 2019").
Popular culture
*The song is repeatedly mentioned in Nikos Nikolaidis' Greek film ''
The Wretches Are Still Singing
''The Wretches Are Still Singing'' ( el, Τα Κουρέλια Τραγουδάνε Ακόμα..., translit=Ta Kourelia Tragoudane Akoma...) is a 1979 Greek dramatic experimental independent surrealist underground art film directed by Nikos Niko ...
(Ta kourelia tragoudane akoma)'' filmed in 1979. More specifically, one of the lead characters mentions at the start of the film that "Well, do you know when everything got screwed up?", proceeding to answer his own question with "when that cretin Perry Como sang Glendora". However, at the end of the film another leading actor admits that it was not Perry Como's fault by saying that "It was one of Konstantinos' jokes to cover things up".
References
Perry Como songs
1956 songs
1956 singles
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